German-Japanese Symposium "Cities and Municipalities on the Road to Net Zero"

Both Japan and Germany have recently announced ambitious goals to reach carbon neutrality by mid-century. As policies decided at the national level must be implemented locally, cities and municipalities play an essential role in the realisation of those climate goals. The virtual German-Japanese Symposium “Cities and Municipalities on the Road to Net Zero” in March 2022 provided a space for mutual learning about local net-zero-approaches and fruitful discussion about questions such as:

• How can the opportunities of a “Net Zero” society be grasped by local governments, citizens and businesses?
• How can local municipalities and cities engage with citizens on the path to “Net Zero”?
• What are the greatest challenges in implementing climate action on a local level, and what do these challenges look like for specific sectors (i.e., mobility, electricity production, agriculture)?
• How can the federal government best support local governments in becoming leaders in climate action, and what are the necessary political structures?

The Symposium Report summarises the contents and results of the discussions from the various sessions on topics such as political strategies and framework conditions for climate neutral cities, local climate protection measures in practice, or German-Japanese city partnerships.